1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head for generating a recording liquid droplet in an ink jet recording system.
2. Related Background Art
The liquid jet recording head for use in the ink jet recording system (liquid jet recording system), in general, comprises: a fine recording liquid emitting port (hereinafter, referred to as an orifice); a liquid channel; and a liquid emission energy generating section which is provided in the liquid channel. Hitherto, as a method of manufacturing such a liquid jet recording head, there has been known a method whereby, for example, a plate made of glass, metal, or the like is used and a fine groove is formed by working means such as cutting, etching, or the like and thereafter, the plate having the groove is joined to another proper plate to form a liquid channel.
However, the liquid jet recording head produced by such conventional method has problems such that the roughness of the surface of the inner wall of the liquid channel which was cut and worked is too large, a distortion occurs in the liquid channel due to the difference in etching ratios, it is difficult to obtain the liquid channel having a constant channel resistance, and a variation easily occurs in the recording liquid emitting characteristics of the liquid jet recording heads so manufactured. In addition, there are also such drawbacks that a notch or a crack can easily occur in the plate during the cutting work and so, the manufacturing yield is low. On the other hand, in the case of performing the etching work, there are disadvantages such that a number of manufacturing steps are required and the manufacturing cost increases. Further, as common drawbacks in the foregoing conventional methods, there are also problems such that when the plate having the groove formed with the liquid channel is stuck with a cover plate provided with a driving element such as piezo-electric element, electrothermal transducer, or the like for generating an emitting energy adapted to emit a recording liquid droplet, it is difficult to accurately position these plates and the mass productivity is low.
On the other hand, during ordinary use, the liquid jet recording head is always in contact with a recording liquid (in general, an ink liquid which mainly contains the water and is not neutral in general, or an ink liquid mainly containing an organic solvent, or the like). Therefore, as a head structural material constituting the liquid jet recording head, it is desirable to use a material which will not deteriorate due to the influence by the recording liquid and which will not effect the recording component in the recording liquid. However, in the foregoing conventional methods, since there are limitations of working methods and the like, a material which satisfies those purposes cannot be necessarily selected.
To solve the foregoing problems of the conventional methods, the applicant of the present invention has already proposed a method of manufacturing a liquid jet recording head using an active energy beam hardening material as a material to constitute a channel in Japanese Patent Application No. 274689/1984.
However, this method is not always satisfactory since the liquid channel is freely designed with respect to the size, height, and the like of the liquid chamber communicating with such liquid channel. In particular, in the case of a multiarray type liquid jet recording head such that the orifice and the liquid channel communicating therewith are highly densely arranged and the recording liquid is simultaneously emitted so as to cover the whole width of a recording paper, it is important to enlarge the volume of the liquid chamber in order to increase the liquid supply speed and to stably and uniformly emit the recording liquid. It is highly desired to develop a head manufacturing method suitable for the mass production of liquid jet recording heads of such a high density multiarray type.